Nature Essentials | 100% Pure Maracuja Oil

               Two weeks ago Nature Essential was so kind to send me a sample of this Maracuja oil and I've been using it since the first day I received it. This face oil comes in a beautiful dark purple glass bottle, with a glass dropper. The Maracuja Oil was lighter than I expected and it smells like coconut oil but it was not over powering. This oil is cold-pressed from the maracuja fruit (passion fruit as we all know), native to Brazil. It is loaded with antioxidants and fatty acids that are good for your skin. It moisturizes a number of skin types from dry to oily and combination. It has a lot of healthy nutrients to moisturize dry skin but because they’re “good” oils they’ll keep your skin moisturized without causing your skin to accumulate the bad oils that cause breakouts and pimples.

               Here’s how I do it. I clean my face, pat dry, tone my face with my sake toner, and finish with this oil. I apply a few drops on the tip of my finger and gently dab the oil on different areas of my face, focusing more on the area around the nose, then I slowly spread it out to cover my entire face. I do not rub but rather “press” it in. Whatever is left, I pat it on my neck.

               Within the next few days, the condition of my skin improved so much (I cannot stress this enough but rather this product speaks for it self). I don’t see dry patches/crazy flakes around my nose anymore and my skin feels a lot more supple. I've also been getting less and less of those nasty, painful pimples (which I get from my monthly period) and the ones that are already on my face seem to dry up and heal pretty fast and it also helps fade the scarring too!

               Unlike Argan oil, the Maracuja oil feels incredibly light and thin, spreads easily and absorbs quickly! It doesn't take more than a minute for it to fully absorb and I don’t find it to leave any sticky, greasy, filmy feel on my skin at all. If you happen to somehow find it too greasy for your taste, try mixing it with your moisturizer so that it sinks in better.

              

~Please keep in mind~

My skin type: Dry, Asian

Age: 25-35

Pros

• Absorbed in the skin well and fast
• Doesn't leave the skin sticky in humid weather
• Didn't cause me any breakouts
• Skin is plumped and brightens when I wake up in the morning
• a bottle would last very long as you only need 3-4 drops for whole face and neck
• PURE OIL
• paraben and preservative free
• Affordable!

Cons

• The smell was not ok for me compared to kiehl's midnight recovery concentrate. Pero tolerable naman. No big deal for me.

              Will I recommend it? Definitely. Just try it for yourself and see the difference.

I finally found my Holy Grail!

               Hi there gorgeous! how are you doing? I hope all the people that read my blog are doing well. I am fall behind on posting here on my blog last week because my Mom and Dad was in town and we spent quality time while they are here, but I do visit my blog (of course) daily to to see your posts and what’s going on with you.
             
               So today, I will be sharing with you ladies (and guys.. if any) something that I've been trying out for almost half a year now and the result is surprisingly good. Lately, I've been asked by few friends and acquaintances “Kris, what are you doing to your skin? It looks more radiant than usual!” which I respond by giving them a sweet smile...

(Syempre, I was flattered to hear compliments about my skin. Not only me who noticed that my skin becomes healthy and brighter.) ...and said: "Sake and rice water." My skin is far from being perfect. I have wrinkles on my neck area because I neglected it in the past (but I'm working on it now). It took me years and years looking for the best for my skin and I've finally found my holy grail!

               Sake and rice water has been my little secret. I used it as a toner (literally, I put sake in my palm and pat it on my face) in the evening followed by my favorite serum and moisturizer, and in the morning I wash my face with rice water. I don't pat my face dry, instead, I let the rice water absorbed by my skin and when its completely dry I put moisturizer. It really helps reduce my pimple marks and age-spots. I also drink it (one shot-glass) every night. Kanpai!!!

Benefits to skin:

• Proven effective in helping our skin stay healthy and smooth.
• Sake will not only control the production of melanin but it will also keep skin hydrated.
• Sake has Kojic acid ingredient that acts as a natural skin brightener. 
• It has anti-aging properties (can you guess what's my age is..? =))

               Sake is not only good for skin brightening (it also combats the pigments that make freckles and dark spots) but it’s also good for the body! It prevents cancer because it has a bunch of amino acids and can also help with bad cholesterol. *Recent studies proved that sake really works in making the skin healthy, nourished, smooth and beautiful.

(a bottle of sake cost me 300php and I also consider a low alcohol content when buying sake so it doesn't dry up my skin.)

How about you, have you found your skincare's "holy grail"? If you do, you can share it to me, too! Just put it in the comment section below. Or if you already made a blog post about your skincare staples you can put the links below. I would love reading those!

Thank you for stopping by!  =)

REVIEW: Naruko Rose & Botanic HA Aqua Cubic

               Let's take a break for a while with my monthly organizing series (of course I didn't want to get burnt out from organizing the kitchen and pantry for two weeks straight haha, like other mommies out there, I need some girly girl thing too) and make some product review/first impression that I recently got laid my hands into.

(picture credit to my older sister)

               Naruko has been on my to-try skincare list for the longest time since I saw it in Fuzkittie's (real name: Juichia C.) video on youtube four years ago and she raved about this skincare line. Naruko produces one of best product especially for dry and dehydrated skin. Their product is also paraben and preservative free. That is why when I saw it in the nearest mall from where I live in, I get super excited and bought two products to try it out! (actually I just bought one and my sister paid for the other one hehe thanks ate Cha!)

Back by Kids' Demand: Hi5 House Hits Returns to Manila!

With 12 sold out shows in December, Hi-5’s biggest concert ever returns to Manila for more shows to delight their Filipino fans! Entitled “Hi-5 House Hits!”, the show will have a rerun on February 28 and March 1, 2015 at the Meralco Theater with 6 more shows. 

"Hi-5 House Hits" features all of Hi-5's most favorite, best loved songs for you to sing and dance to. These songs have been chosen by some very special people... all of you of course!

Date of Performances: 

Feb. 28, 2015 (Saturday)

11:00AM, 3:00PM, 7:00PM

March 1, 2015 (Sunday)

11:00AM, 3:00PM, 7:00PM

Venue: 

Meralco Theater

Ortigas cor. Meralco Avenue,

Ortigas Center, Pasig City

Ticket Prices:

          Seat                     Regular                HSBC Cardholder

     Category             Ticket Prices             Prices 10% OFF

   VIP                    PHP4,000                   PHP3,600

  GOLD                  PHP3,400                   PHP3,060

 SILVER                 PHP2,800                   PHP2,520

For more info go to HI-5 Facebook page

Monthly Organizing Series | February Week 2: Pantry

               Last week we talked about how to organize and stationed our kitchen. This second week of my monthly organizing series, I’m sharing with you how I organize the food items in my pantry. I split up the kitchen and pantry because I think the pantry is a separate task to do (and also its in a separate room in my home). You will see in the pictures below that we don't have much going on (just enough to entertain my family of three) or should I say we only store food in our pantry that we ONLY eat and consume within a month or so. Ok, enough with the blabbering and let's get organized!

WEEK TWO TASK/TO-DO'S

✓ Empty out the whole pantry and clean it inside.
✓ Discard anything that is no longer fit to eat.
✓ Sort and categorize the rest.
✓ Determine the types of containers you need.
✓ Put everything back.
✓ Label each bin or hang a tag on the basket.

OUR PANTRY

Monthly Organizing Series| February Week 1: KITCHEN

               

               

               Today is the first day of my monthly organizing series on clearing out clutter and organizing the entire home. This month we will start in the kitchen, the heart of our home. First, we need to plan our kitchen so that we know how we can strategically place things and to make our kitchen more functional. I admit, when my family moved in to our new home three years ago I absolutely had no strategy for organization. My cooking utensils were in a cupboard neatly placed, but it was on the opposite side of the kitchen away from stove! They appeared to have just put in a cupboard with no thoughts (kaloka!).

A Monthly Organizing Series

               Hello there gorgeous mommies! Hope you all doing great this morning. I am extremely excited of what will be happening here on my blog! On my previous post I mentioned that I started organizing my home last October but I wasn't able to fully organize (in fact, there are a lot of areas in my home that aren't quite finished) because of school activities, Christmas parties, and Holiday is fast approaching.

              So... this year of 2015 I will continue what I already started and guess what? I will be sharing it with you on how I organize every space in my home and I hope you’ll join me in keeping it real and fun! Let's inspire and motivate each other, mommies.